The Gathering
by Destructa Works
Summary: A different version of how Sonic and company met each other. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

A/N

I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or anything that has to do with him. With that out of the way...

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog ran through the alleys away from the police with a wide grin on his face. In his hand he carried a large emerald, supposedly worth millions. He looked behind him for a split second to see ten police officers running after him. Sonic was, of course, only humoring them. He could run much, much faster, but he was saving that for when he got out into the streets. Sonic led them on a merry chase before he finally turned a corner that led to a pathway to the street. What Sonic found was a police blockade. He shook his head and jumped easily over the cars and onto the street. He burst into full speed leaving all the cops in the dust.

It only took a few minutes to leave the city limits into a large field where his friend, Tails the twin-tailed Fox was waiting with their escape bi-plane, the X-Tornado. Tails jumped down from the wings. "Well?" he asked. "Did you get it?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Do you not see the expensive jewel I hold in my hands?"

"Is this that sarcasm thing I keep hearing about?"

"Yes." Sonic handed the emerald to Tails. "Did you get the plane fixed?"

"I think so. The wings are still a little shaky but should be stable. Are you sure you want to ride on the wings?"

"Of course I do."

Tails sighed. "Okay. I'm just saying it's really dangerous."

Sonic jumped to the wings and shrugged. "So is flying with an open cockpit. Anything else?"

Tails flew up to the cockpit and strapped on his flight goggles. "No."

"Excellent. Let's head out now."

"Although, I am starting to get a little worried," Tails said as he started up the engine.

"About?"

"Don't you think we're starting to get a little greedy? Maybe even risky? Cops all over the world are going to be hunting us down."

"And we'll evade them as always. Seriously, Tails, you have to lighten up."

"Okay. If you're sure."

"And I am. Now could you please take off."

"Roger." After a few seconds, they were up in the air.

* * *

Dr. Eggman watched as his robots searched the room. There was broken glass everywhere. Whoever stole the emerald didn't seem to care if he or she wanted to be sneaky. This was the third time something had been stolen from Eggman's warehouses and the second time the police were useless. Yet another thing he would have to change when he conquered the world.

Eggman returned to his base and accessed the Eggnet, a special internet connection that Eggman ran where thousands of assassins, criminals, and bounty hunters awaited Eggman's command. Each one of them owed Eggman something or other, and he was willing to take advantage of that. Eggman browsed through the thief section hoping the old saying was true: "It takes a thief to catch a thief." He found the perfect thief for the job. Her name was Rouge the Bat.

Rouge practically owed her life to Eggman. She had once tried stealing from Eggman's secret vault but was caught. Instead of killing her then and there, Eggman made her swear her "undying loyalty" to him.

He e-mailed her the job, and said he wanted it done immediately. Then, he called up one of his robots searching the warehouse. "Any news that I'd want to hear?" he asked.

"That depends," the robot answered. "Will you trash me if I say 'no'?"

"You haven't found anything?" Eggman wasn't surprised. This thief, whoever it was, was good. Too good. It made Eggman sick.

"No, sir."

"Someone is stealing my chaos emeralds. I need those chaos emeralds for world domination. So help me, if you don't find something…"

"We'll find something sir!" the robot shrilled. "D-don't worry."

Eggman shut off the communication. Not even a trace of a person other than the glass. It was like you'd have to be moving at the speed of sound. There wasn't even anything on camera. One second the emerald was there, the next it wasn't.

Suddenly Eggman smiled. "Speed of sound, eh?"


	2. Chapter 2

"That echidna better pay up when we give him these emeralds," Sonic said back at the hideout. "He says they're worth millions, so I expect to be paid millions."

Tails barely paid Sonic any mind as he was on his laptop. Sonic never understood how Tails could just spend countless hours online just surfing. "That's great, Sonic," Tails replied.

"These things were a lot of trouble to get to," Sonic continued.

Tails sighed. "Now you admit it."

Sonic sat down in his chair. "What are you even doing on there?"

"Searching for secret Internet connections. It's a hobby of mine. Last week, I found an underground community, specializing in robot technology. After we get our reward, I'm going to buy some parts from them."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sounds like fun, Tails."

"Oh, it is." Tails typed for a brief moment and then stopped. "Was that sarcasm?"

"Yes. Have you contacted the echidna?"

"Doing that now." Tails typed quick and quiet. "Message sent. Get ready to reap the rewards of our work."

"About time."

* * *

Rouge the Bat listened to Eggman babble on and on about the robberies that had taken place in his warehouses. Rouge found him a nuisance, but she still feared the fat oaf. She knew that Eggman had the power to snuff her life at the first possible chance he could get. Of course, that first chance had come time and time again. It was better to be considered his personal assassin than to be dead.

"And don't forget," Eggman concluded, "once you draw the thief out, use non-lethal methods to capture him. I want to see him alive, so I can kill him myself."

Rouge held back a shudder. That could be her Eggman was speaking about. Thank Chaos it wasn't. "Of course," she said. "Provided I can catch him in the act."

"That's where the secret part I mentioned comes in."

"Oh?" You think that_ I _need help? Besides I thought I was catching him. What with the non-lethal tactics and all."

"I seemed to forget another part of the plan. You're more of the back-up."

"What?" Rouge almost shouted.

"You're still drawing him out, of course because that's you're forte, but when it comes to speed..." Eggman stopped short. "Trust me. You'll be glad to have this guy as you're back-up."

"We'll see."

* * *

Tails looked up from his computer at the sound of the door knocking. "Police?" he asked Sonic who was looking out the window.

"No. Red echidna guy," Sonic answered opening the door. "Hello," he greeted.

The echidna did not return the greeting, but instead just walked in. "I believe you owe me those emeralds," he said.

"I believe you owe us a couple million dollars," Tails said in a mimicking tone.

"Of course except I don't have the money."

Sonic kicked his feet on the ground angrily. "What did you just say?"

The echidna turned to Tails. "Is your friend slow or what?"

Tails went back to his computer. "You have no idea. Now how about you tell us why you don't have the money, or we can have Sonic here show you just how we got the emeralds."

"_I_don't have the money, but I've got a friend who does. He'll be around in a little bit." The echidna reached for the bag of emeralds, but Sonic got there first.

"Better idea," Sonic said. "You stay here and wait with us, and then, after we get the money, you can leave."

The echidna clenched his fist which Sonic just realized were spiked. "I don't think you want to deal with me, hedgehog. Let me leave."

Sonic's feet began revving up. "No, I think I do."

"Guys," Tails piped up, "I just swept."

The echidna lunged at the bag of emeralds in Sonic's hand but Sonic used the echidna's head as boost to jump over him.

"That's it," growled the echidna. "It's time for a knuckles sandwich."

"Knuckles sandwich?" Sonic laughed. "I thought it was knuckle sandwich. Gee, you're really not good at making threats. Knuckles sandwich sounds lame."

"That's my name!" The echidna landed a punch in Sonic's gut causing him to double over. Tails closed his laptop and rushed to aid Sonic.

"Let's try and resolve this like civilized people," he said.

"Get out of the way, kid," Knuckles said. "I don't have a problem putting the beatdown on you too."

Sonic staggered to his feet. "C'mon, Tails, we can take him."

"Bring it on!" Knuckles shouted, but just as they were about to fight, another knock sounded at the door.

Sonic and Knuckles didn't take their gaze off of each other, but Tails went to answer. He opened the door to find himself staring face to face with a purple chameleon. Knuckles laughed.

"Ha. I told you," he said. "Yet you didn't believe me."

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic sighed. He eyed the chameleon's briefcase. "I hope that's the money."

The chameleon looked at Knuckles confusedly. "Change in plans?" he asked.

"Unfortunately."

Sonic didn't change his question. "Is that the money?"

"No," Knuckles replied, "it's not. Espio, show him."

Espio opened the brief case, revealing a gas mask, and a type of sleep gas.

Sonic began revving his feet again. "What are you trying to pull?"

"Would you believe us if we told you the world was in terrible danger?" Espio asked.

"No," Tails said. "What's the sleep gas for? You were about to kidnap us, weren't you?"

"For a good reason," Espio said.

"Funny way to show it."

"Look, kid," Knuckles said, "if you come with us, we'll explain everything."

"And if we don't?" Sonic said.

"You will come," Espio said. "One way or another."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yes, I know it's been awhile. I was struck with writer's block. This is short, I know, but don't worry. Longer stuff is in the making.

The ride to what Knuckles had called Angel Island was too long and slow for Sonic's liking. Not to mention, Tails wouldn't let Sonic ride on the wings of the helicopter they were taking. Tails had said, "You'll go deaf with the blades twirling around above you." Sonic found some joy in finding that Tails was suffering from the ride too. There was no internet connection in there, and thus no need for a laptop. Knuckles and Espio had utterly refused to reveal any information about where they were going or why until they landed. Sonic and Tails suffered two hours of silence while Knuckles and Espio were laughing heartily in the cockpit.

Finally, Sonic heard Knuckles say through his earmuffs, "Angel Island coming up."

"It's about time," Sonic shouted, looking down through the window, but he saw nothing. "Where is it?"

"Sonic," Tails sighed. "Look through the cockpit."

Sonic did as Tails said and saw a giant floating island. "Whoa." Sonic wondered where they were going to land in a vastly overgrown forest, but then realized they weren't heading for the forest but the volcano. Sonic looked uncertainly at Tails. "What are they playing at?"

Tails shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't even know this place existed."

Sonic closed his eyes, dreading the moment of landing and burning, but that moment didn't come. He felt them touch down safely.

"Alright," said Knuckles. "Everyone off." They exited the helicopter and Tails marveled at the landing pad inside the volcano.

"How did you build this?" he asked.

"It's been here for a while," Espio replied. "We only just converted it into a landing pad."


	4. Chapter 4

The group walked along a corridor. Inside there was a large tapestry with a figure that Sonic thought looked peculiarly like himself. This figure appeared to be fighting another figure who looked like Dr. Eggman, the world-renowed scientist and the man Sonic stole the six gems from.

"So," Sonic said, "I don't suppose you could tell me why you need me?"

"Perhaps we should wait," Espio said to Knuckles. "He doesn't really have too much training, and we're still missing the final emerald."

"Yeah," Knuckles said. "We'll wait." He turned to Sonic and Tails. "You need to come with me, so I can explain a couple of things. Not why we need you, but the island's inner workings and rules that are set."

Tails tried to connect to his internet frantically but failed. "Is there _no_ connection here?"

"Not really a need," Knuckles replied. "Is he paying attention?" he asked Sonic.

Sonic shrugged. "Probably not."

* * *

Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate lifeform, stood in Eggman's office listening to the fat man ramble on and on about stolen chaos emeralds and such and such. Shadow was the savior of Mobius, so he felt dirty working with the man trying to undermine the Station Square government and Soleanna. Of course, Eggman's grandfather was Shadow's creator, so Shadow felt some sort of obligation to Eggman.

"So," Eggman concluded, "provide cover for Rouge, and capture the thief. Alive."

Shadow sighed. "Of course, Doctor, but do you know where the thief is?"

"You don't have to worry about that. Rouge is a good tracker, so you'll be fine. You're to meet up with her here." He pointed at a spot on the map of Station Square. "At the coffee shop."

"You did tell her about the coffee shop, right? You are quite forgetful."

"Of course I told her about the coffee shop! Then again, she might not have listened. I doubt you did."

Shadow shook his head and turned to leave. "I'll be on my way then. Wait." He turned around again. "You said they stole chaos emeralds right?"

"Weren't you paying attention? Yes, I did! Yes, they did!"

"Please quit shouting. I was just making sure. Goodbye, Doctor." Shadow walked out and held out his emerald. "Chaos control." He murmered. "This just got a whole lot bigger than simple thievery."

* * *

Shadow teleported at the coffee shop and looked around. Several people were dumbfounded at his sudden appearance. Others paid no attention to him. He looked around for Rouge, if she was there yet. Of course, Eggman had forgotten to tell Shadow what Rouge looked like. Someone tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, handsome," came a voice from behind him. He turned to see a bat standing at her chair. "I think this is my table you just appeared on."

Shadow ignored her comment. "You wouldn't happen to know a woman named Rouge would you?"

"Get off my table, and maybe I'll tell you."

Shadow hopped off not changing his attitude. "It's vital that you tell me."

The bat put her fingers to her chin and rolled her eyes to the top. "Maybe I know her. Maybe I don't."

Shadow turned. "Enough games. If you don't know, then just say no." He started off to his own table.

"Wait!" the bat exclaimed putting her hand on Shadow's shoulder. "I'm Rouge."

"You could have told me."

"And where's the fun in that?" Rouge asked taking her hand off.

Shadow didn't answer. "I'm Shadow. I believe the doctor wants us working together."

"Oh, so you're the one. I see." Rouge spotted Shadow's emerald. "That's a pretty gem. _Very_ pretty."

Shadow instinctively put the emerald away. "You're an expert tracker?"

"Of jewelery. It's why Eggman picked me."

"I suggest we get started soon if not immediately."

Rouge smiled. "I know just where to start."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I know I don't really get into overly long monologues, but I really don't feel like explaining the rules of the island. It isn't a nescessity.

* * *

Knuckles finished giving Sonic and Tails the tour and rules.

"Great," Sonic said afterwards. "Now how about an explanation as to why I'm here."

"I can't do it," Knuckles replied. "You don't have the appropriate training, and if I do tell you it'll be too much for you to take."

"I don't know. I can take a lot."

"You can't take this! I have dragged you into something that is much bigger than petty thievery. You've robbed Dr. Eggman. He isn't going to let that go. He has many agents, and he's on good terms with G.U.N. for now."

"For now?" Tails piped up.

"I can't tell you all the details because it involves the prophecy!"

"Prophecy?"

Knuckles grumbled. "I'm saying too much."

"And I'm taking it," Sonic said grinning. "Come on! Bring it on!"

Knuckles breathed deeply. "Fine. You are the chosen one. The one that is said to stop Dr. Eggman from whatever he's planning."

Sonic's grin faded. "What?"

"Exactly what I said. You're to stop Dr. Eggman and possibly even more. By absorbing energy from the emeralds you've stolen. They're called chaos emeralds."

"Okay, and how do you know he's planning something?"

"The prophecy is thousands of years old. You and Eggman resemble the figures in the tapestry. I don't doubt it. Unfortunately, we don't have the seventh emerald with us to prove it. However, there is one other hedgehog that the prophecy could resemble. Shadow the Hedgehog. He's a freelance agent with known chaos powers. He can easily be the chosen one."

Sonic paused. "Well there's one way to find out. Where's the final emerald?"

Knuckles closed his eyes. "Shadow has it. This is part of the reason you need the training. Shadow is far too powerful for you, and we need that emerald."

"Well then," Sonic said cracking his neck. "Let's get training."

"Just like that?" Knuckles asked surprised.

"Just like that."

* * *

Shadow and Rouge observed the latest crime scene. There was shattered glass and broken robot parts everywhere.

"Someone obviously didn't care about covering their tracks," Shadow observed.

"Which will help us even more," Rouge replied. She took a robot head and pulled a few plugs.

"Who? What? Where?" the robot began asking before it screamed.

"Listen you bucket of bolts," Rouge said, "we need a description of who attacked you."

"Well it was a blue hedgehog wasn't it? Came in and turned into a ball before blowing us all to bits!"

"Did he have an accomplice?"

"Not that I know of."

Rouge pulled the plugs again turning the head off. "That's all I needed to know. I might just know this hedgehog."

Shadow looked suspicously at her. "Oh?"

"We may have met once. Worked on a jewelhunt with him and his friend a year back. Never saw him again. Since then all I've heard is rumors about stuff he's stolen."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"It's hard to say. If it's who I'm thinking of he has a plane. Those aren't exactly easy to track."

"We could hack G.U.N.'s satellites. You seem to be pretty good at hacking." Hacking the satellites would give them pictures of any planes that would have been in the area at the time of the robbery. Shadow thought it was a good idea on his part.

"Honey, when it comes to hacking, I'm the best. The trouble is getting into G.U.N.'s control room without getting caught."

Shadow came up with an idea. "A diversion is needed." He called someone on his cell.

* * *

Rouge and Shadow hid outside the G.U.N. headquarters. Shadow believed his plan would work just fine, but Rouge thought otherwise. Shadow's plan hinged on activating the evacuation alarm inside the building. Rouge knew this was easy enough, but the hard part was getting inside. She scanned the area for any easy security breaches. There were two guards at the gate, loads of cameras, and Rouge suspected that there were plenty of security robots and such inside the building. None of the vents were open either.

"They're all locked down," she said fruststrated. "How are we supposed to get in?"

"Give me a second."

"Can't you just do your little teleport thing?"

"It's called Chaos Control, and no. What do you want me to do? Teleport in there and get myself shot? I don't think so. I've figured it out."

Rouge looked doubtful. "Oh, really? You know come to think of it, there are thousands of planes on Mobius. This isn't a good idea. Especially when my freedom rests on it."

"Just follow my lead," Shadow said impassively. He left their hiding spot and headed directly over to the guards.

"What is he doing?" Rouge asked herself.

"Afternoon," Shadow said.

The guards pointed their weapons at him. "This is a restricted area," said one of them. "Leave at once."

Shadow disappeared but reappeared instantly behind the guards. Before they had any time to react, he knocked them out cold. Rouge jumped out of her spot frantically.

"Are you crazy!" she shouted. "There are still cameras!"

Shadow faced the cameras. He lifted his hand and a green spear-like thing appeared. "Chaos Spear!" He threw the spear at one of the cameras. It broke upon impact. He aimed at another camera and did the same thing. "Chaos Spear!" The other camera broke. Soon, all the cameras on their side of the wall were destroyed. Shadow smiled. "Call it skill."

"I call it luck," Rouge sighed. "You're lucky the alarm didn't sound, or that nobody noticed."

"Fine. Skill, luck, and careful planning."

"Careful planning?"

"That call I made was to a spy Eggman has in the G.U.N. headquarters. We're friends. As far as friendship with a robot can go anyway."

"A robot? You're crazy. Who makes friends with a robot?"

"Well. Me obviously."

Rouge sighed again after Shadow broke down the gate and faced the building. "Okay, genius, now what do we do about the giant door in our way? Does your friendly robot help us with that to?"

"As a matter of fact," Shadow smirked. A large explosion rocked the place, and alarms shrilled. "And that is how we turn on the evacuation alarm." Another explosion sounded and the door flew out causing Rouge and Shadow to dive out of its way. A giant robot, painted red and black, stepped out. It had red eyes, a bulky body, and long spindly fingers. On its shoulders was the Greek letter, "Omega."

"Rouge," Shadow said, "meet E-123 Omega."

* * *

A/N Before you say anything, I know my chapters aren't the longest, but I'm trying to keep you guys enertained here. More is on the way, and don't worry. The other characters will be appearing as well, so stay tuned.


End file.
